Edmonton police will function on a funding formula for the next three years after city council approved a revised model at a Wednesday meeting, but not without much debate and concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
City administration, police and the police commission agree the model, now approved for three years, provides stable and consistent funding.<\/p>\n
“The longer-term formula also benefits us in administration and, by extension, council by helping in multi-year budget development and stability in the city’s largest operating expense,” Andre Corbould, city manager, told council.<\/p>\n
In a 9-4 vote, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi agreed with the move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“What I was looking for out of this, was a very strong commitment from EPS that having this predictability will allow them to deploy all the tools necessary to make our community safe,” Sohi said after the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councillors Michael Janz, Ashley Salvador, Anne Stevenson and Erin Rutherford voted against the motion to approve the formula.<\/p>\n
The formula starts with a base budget annually and is adjusted according to inflation and population growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The formula is also capped at 30 per cent of the total of what other departments spend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stacey Padbury, the city’s chief financial officer, presented council with a breakdown of how the formula works by providing a funding scenario for 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a base budget of $422.9 million, the city added $9.2 million in growth, $1.2 million in inflation and $3.8 million added for salary settlements in a recently ratified collective agreement, for a total of $437.4 million.<\/p>\n
Erick Ambtman, chair of the Edmonton Police Commission, said the formula allows them to adjust service levels as the population increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The funding formula provides certainty and predictability in police funding to allow for long-term planning of resources within the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to improve safety across the city,” Ambtman said in a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sohi made it clear that he wants police to address the persistent and sometimes random violence in Edmonton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“What I hear from communities, from business leaders, everywhere I go, that we are lacking boots on the ground,” he said. “People want to see more police presence in their community.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Police aim to hire 150 officers this year and increase recruiting classes according to\u00a0Justin Krikler, chief administrative officer with EPS.<\/p>\n
Last fall, council directed city administration to re-evaluate the formula and increases to the police funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edmonton police service takes up the biggest portion of the city’s operating budget at nearly 15 per cent; the subsequent highest expenditure is transit at 13 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councillors had many concerns with a model that doesn’t require police to list their budgets line by line, like other city departments, each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rutherford said she agreed with the principles of the funding formula in creating consistency and certainty but was struggling to justify the yearly budget increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Where’s the accountability for improvements?” she asked during the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I can think of several high-profile incidents in the ward that I represent that have not been mitigated by more police funding.”<\/p>\n
The formula doesn’t cover significant urban growth from annexation or major capital projects initiated by the city of Edmonton that might increase the demand for policing.<\/p>\n
The approved formula also leaves room for police to return to council to ask for more money if events arise.<\/p>\n
Police can ask council for more money if extraordinary events happen – like an emergency, a huge sporting event like FIFA World Cup, or dignitary visits from someone like the Catholic Pope.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashley Salvador, Ward M\u00e9tis\u00a0councillor, sought examples of capital projects that might not be accounted for, such as transit initiatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew Barker, executive director of the commission, said the service and commission would have to analyze the situation before asking for operating funding to cover those.<\/p>\n
Barker said he was uncertain how subsequent growth might impact the police budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Those are factors associated with a growing city, as our population increases, it’s a reasonable expectation to see increases in transit service, growth of communities,” Salvador said, raising concerns that overall city growth is not factored into the formula.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Corbould said requests for more money aren’t automatically approved as they’d be up to council’s discretion.<\/p>\n
He said, for example, the Yellowhead Trail Freeway and the Valley Line Southeast LRT, which still need to be finished, are already being factored into service levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n